Before they married, Chase and Tami Spenst spent a lot of time biking around the Historic Core, and in the process fell in love with downtown Los Angeles.
“We found all these interesting parts of this very rich community we didn’t see when driving past,” Chase Spenst said. “We looked for any reason to ride bikes to new places, like when trying new restaurants.”
The couple is parlaying that passion for cycling into the Wheelhouse, a bicycle lifestyle shop and coffee bar that will open on the Factory Place’s mixed-use campus at 1375 E. Sixth St. in the Arts District around the end of summer.
The cavernous 3,700-square-foot space will feature vintage-inspired steel bicycles starting at about $599 as well as accessories such as bike bags and helmets. The concept is less a sporting goods store and more a lifestyle shop meant to connect the community around bicycles.
To that end, two-wheeled enthusiasts will be able to pop in for a cup of artisanal coffee at a café designed by Tyler Wells, one of the partners behind Handsome Coffee Roasters, an Arts District staple bought by Oakland’s Blue Bottle Coffee Inc. last year.
“Ten years ago you had to do something very special and absolutely be a destination,” Wells said of opening a shop in the Arts District. “Now you have this density and velocity in the neighborhood. You have traffic. … A lot of people live down here.”
The Arts District appealed to the Spensts because of continuing development in the neighborhood coupled with an increasing parking shortage that makes cycling attractive, not to mention the area’s creative vibe, Chase Spenst said.
He added that the Wheelhouse will eventually serve beer and wine.
“The whole purpose is to create a community around the lifestyle,” he said. “We didn’t want this to be this community that is open until 5 and then you have to find somewhere else to go.”
Late-Night Snack
You know changes are afoot downtown when a popular Beverly Hills restaurant closes its doors and sets up shop in the Historic Core.
Austrian chef Bernhard Mairinger, who cut his teeth at Patina, has closed his BierBeisl and rethought the concept as BierBeisl Imbiss, which opened in the Spring Arcade Building last month.
Mairinger said the Beverly Hills location was successful, but the new 2,800-square-foot space at 541 S. Spring St. has nearly twice the room as the old one.
“We always had planned to expand to a larger space, and downtown had the right energy plus a European feel which fit with the more casual concept,” Mairinger said.
Imbiss is German for “snack,” and Mairinger hopes his patrons come with the munchies. BierBeisl Imbiss will cater to downtown’s late-night crowds, serving sausages and other Austrian street food, along with Austrian, Czech, German and other international beers until 2 a.m., seven days a week.
The move marks the latest in a series of Spring Arcade openings for restaurants that established themselves in other parts of the city. Guisados, which has popular Echo Park and Boyle Heights taco joints, recently set up shop there. Royal Clayton’s, a British-themed pub that closed its Arts District location in 2010, is also set to reopen in the arcade building.
Ari Simon, director of culture and development at the Historic Core Business Improvement District, said the history of the arcade played a key role in attracting tenants from other parts of the city.
“The fact that it creates this midblock shopping and dining experience which is also a pedestrian passageway is very special,” he said.
Patricia Berman, president of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, said the restaurant scene in the arcade, which had been more of a swap meet for vendors selling odds and ends on folding tables, is making the neighborhood safer.
“All the people coming and going has really changed the neighborhood,” she said. “The arcade is lit until the last business closes at 2 a.m., which makes the streets safer.”
On the Grid
Before Chelsea Nicholson and Vanessa Stofenmacher moved Vrai & Oro, their online jewelry business, to the Grid110 nonprofit in the Gas Co. Tower, they would take turns battling downtown traffic to pick up orders from their supplier in the Jewelry District.
“It was Christmastime when we realized we couldn’t keep doing this,” Nicholson said. “And Christmas really determines how our whole year is going to play out.”
That’s why the pair applied to be a part of Grid110, which provides startups with rent-free workspace for six months and access to accomplished business mentors. Vrai & Oro and four other startups in the fashion-tech industry are part of its inaugural six-month program, which launched late last month. It’s funded by a handful of corporate sponsors, including downtown megalandlord Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and law firm Nixon Peabody, said board member Megan Sette.
For now, Sette, who is working full time at the incubator, said the primary focus is ensuring the inaugural program is successful.
Revenue for Vrai & Oro, which launched in April of last year, has increased about 500 percent since last year, according to Stofenmacher. It’s already profitable, she said, although she declined to provide specific sales figures. Ideally, she added, her company will be able to afford its own space by early next year.
“Grid110 has definitely helped us become more efficient,” Stofenmacher said.
Staff reporters Marni Usheroff, Hannah Miet and Cale Ottens contributed to this column. #DTLA is compiled by Senior Managing Editor Jonathan Diamond. He can be reached at [email protected].
